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Sarah's review

The Last American Man
by Elizabeth Gilbert

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23202.The_Last_American_Man?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Last American Man" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167391861m/23202.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23202.The_Last_American_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Last American Man</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11679.Elizabeth_Gilbert">Elizabeth Gilbert</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10640801?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>While reading this book, I wanted to sign up for Eustace Conway's summer camp. I found Eustace's way of life intriguing, and it should make us all re-examine our "American Dream" lifestyles. A lot of the funny parts in the book are about people who Eustace explains have no common sense. It's scary to think these stories are true, and I'm sure they are a lot more common that we would like to think. 
<br/>One story that really left an impression on me is when he makes us question what it truly means to be an environmentalist. He encounters two people who have fully embraced the tree hugger/save the animals mentality. They are horrified by Eustace wearing animal skins. He counters by explaining the damage they are doing to the earth by wearing clothes made of man-made materials produced in factories that cause pollution. Eustace firmly believes in the cycle/circle of life. Out of death comes life. He kills animals for food and then uses their skins/furs to make clothing or something else useful. He is very thankful to that animal for allowing him to have food to eat. In our world of convenience, we have lost the natural cycle of life, and Eustace is urgently trying to make us aware. 
<br/>A sad part of the book is when Eustace says he is preserving 1,000 acres of land so that one day when everything is built up, people can come and look at it and see "how it used to be." 
<br/>I highly recommend this book for anyone. It is a very enjoyable biography you won't be able to put down. 
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/694177?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Sarah's review
rating:
bookshelves: 2007
recommended for: lovers of fiction and non-fiction

While reading this book, I wanted to sign up for Eustace Conway's summer camp. I found Eustace's way of life intriguing, and it should make us all re-examine our "American Dream" lifestyles. A lot of the funny parts in the book are about people who Eustace explains have no common sense. It's scary to think these stories are true, and I'm sure they are a lot more common that we would like to think.
One story that really left an impression on me is when he makes us question what it truly means to be an environmentalist. He encounters two people who have fully embraced the tree hugger/save the animals mentality. They are horrified by Eustace wearing animal skins. He counters by explaining the damage they are doing to the earth by wearing clothes made of man-made materials produced in factories that cause pollution. Eustace firmly believes in the cycle/circle of life. Out of death comes life. He kills animals for food and then uses their skins/furs to make clothing or something...more

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message 1: by Rich

12/18/2007 06:13PM

I haven't read the book - grew up not far from where it takes place - adjacent county. We use to drive by his area on the way to football games (this was before he got there).